That's a lot to cover in one post and it's a little bit of everything, so stick with me.
I shared this desk in my post about becoming a vendor at Lucketts. It made its way into my possession on the day of the Junque Swap. I could hardly resist taking a piece of furniture. This one had a nice shape and was very sturdy. Like most pieces that follow me home, it just needed some love.
My only fear about it was the dreaded red stain. Those of you who have tried painting a piece with this reddish stain on it knows the agony I went through to get this piece white. It involved two coats of primer, one coat of sealant and three coats of paint. When I was on the third coat, I realized I should have just painted it red. Oh well.
I stripped the top and refinished it with dark walnut stain and wipe on poly. I love the warmth it brought to the piece and it's also more durable.
It looked perfect in Karen's space at Lucketts. Well, I guess it's our space, but I'm kind of a hitchhiker.
Another bit of news from the Junque Swap is the interview I gave to Stephanie for iVillage.
Here it is...
I'm a talker, so they had a full feature film worth of me talking. They did a great job editing my ramblings!
I've been trying to find a good post to insert some pictures I took of my niece, but it doesn't flow with DIY and furniture makeovers, so I'm just going to let it come from left field. I'm okay with that.
She had a great time being a model and I had a great time being a stylist and photographer.
Working with kids is a lot of fun, because they're not self-conscious around a camera like a lot of adults are.
She's the only girl among the cousins, so I think these photo shoots will be our special time together.
Lastly, I must admit to a failure. I said in my post about being an Accidental Entrepreneur that those would happen. Back in July, I offered up a free consultation as a way for me to test the waters of virtual room makeovers. I selected finalists and asked everyone to vote and a winner was chosen. Elise was the one with the most votes. She had a string of unfortunate events and things took off for me after the Luckett's Fair in August, so nothing ever came of it. A couple of weeks ago, Elise sent me pictures, measurements and all of the details about her room and wishes. I started working on it and quickly realized that this was not my forte. I needed to be in a space to see how it felt. I needed to run around her house and look at the things she had to work with. I needed to chat with her to hear what she might like, without her verbalizing it. I just couldn't work the way I usually work over e-mail and I realized it was a bad idea.
I couldn't just leave Elise hanging. She is, by all accounts, a very sweet and deserving person, so I gave her some ideas, in the hopes they would help.
So, to everyone who asked, "what ever happened to that design consultation thing?" That's what happened to it. DOA. Dead On Arrival. One failure of many, I'm sure.
No need to wallow in this failure, though, I think there are more than enough success to balance it out! Honestly, I'm relieved that another idea is off my plate, allowing me to focus on what I am good at and what I enjoy.
Thanks, Elise, for being my guinea pig and for being a good sport. I'm sorry we had to learn together that this was not one of my strengths! Some prize, huh?
Today it snowed and I made homemade soup and bread. Tomorrow...purging the basement and getting organized, so I can have an efficient, heated, and (hopefully after a dust collection system is installed) a relatively dust-free workshop. Hooray!
